Fayetteville, Tennessee, on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: A Site Report

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by Jamie A. Metrailer

Resources on Indian Removal No. 12
Sequoyah Research Center
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
November 17, 2006

Research for this report was funded in part by a Challenge Cost Share Agreement with the Long Distance Trails Office of the National Park Service, Santa Fe, New Mexico. No part of this text may be duplicated or otherwise used except by permission of the author or as provided for by the "Special Provision" section of the agreement.

Background

Fayetteville, founded in 1809, was named by early white residents who had lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, before moving to Tennessee.¹ The Tennessee militia who were preparing to go to war with the Creeks encamped there in 1813. ² One group of Cherokees passed through Fayetteville on the Trail of Tears.

Fayetteville and Cherokee Removal

The Bell party of Cherokees spent two or three days in the Fayetteville vicinity in 1838. A party of 650-700 left the vicinity of the Cherokee Agency at Calhoun, Tennessee, on October 11 with Lieutenant Edward Deas as disbursing agent and John Bell as conductor. Serving Bell as assistant conductors were D. S. Walker, D. M. Foreman, Ellis Harlin, and Luther Rankin. Watt Foster, W. M. Boling, and John Sanders served as interpreters, and Dr. J. W. Edington served as physician.³ Because this party had supported the New Echota Treaty, they chose not to travel with other large contingents organized by Chief John Ross. “Deas reported [that] The Party under my charge numbers between 650 and 700 person, and is composed for the most part of highly respectable and intelligent families, and there but few who have not made considerable advancement in civilization.’”⁴

The Cherokees had with them a number of African descended slaves. A number of wagons carried their baggage, and they had over 300 horses, excluding their teams. Part of Deas’ job as disbursing agent was to procure forage for the animals and subsistence rations for the people, including such items as corn meal, flour, bacon, fresh beef and fresh pork.⁵ On October 30, 1838, he purchased 12 sacks of corn meal and 15 pounds of tallow candles from T. M. Likens, corn and fodder from R. H. C. Bagby, and 2600 pounds of flour and 30 bushels of corn meal from Sam Rosebrough. The next day on Cane Creek “near Fayetteville,” he purchased corn and fodder from Thomas Hines and on November 2, “near Fayetteville” from Henry Cable. And on November 3, “near Fayetteville,” he purchased corn and fodder from Logan D. Harvill.⁶

From the Fayetteville vicinity, the Bell Party traveled on to Pulaski.

Opportunities for Interpretation

The Fayetteville Lincoln County Museum at 521 Main Avenue South might offer an opportunity for interpreting Fayetteville on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Notes

1. “Fayetteville, Tennessee,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayetteville_Tennessee.

2. “Fayetteville—Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce,” http://www.vallnet.com/chamberofcommerce/history.shtm.

3. Wayne Dell Gibson, “Cherokee Treaty Party Moves West: The Bell-Deas Overland Journey, 1838-1839,” Chronicles of Oklahoma 79 (Fall 2001): 328.

4. Grant Foreman, Indian Removal: Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972, 301.

5. Gibson, “Cherokee Treaty Party Moves West,” 329.

6. Receipts of T. M. Likens, October 30, 1838, R. H. C. Bagley, October 30, 1838, Thomas Hines, October 31, 1838, Henry Cable, November 2, 1838, Logan D. Harvill, November 3,1838, and Sam Rosenbrough, October 30, 1838, Treaty Party—Disbursements for Subsistence; Disbursements for Transportation, Edward Deas Papers, Sequoyah Research Center.